7 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

big smallmouth lakes north of me

Big water also adds a new dimension and a canoe is a risky maneuver there.

22 minutes ago, gim said:

a canoe is a risky maneuver there.

For sure. When I was young and immortal, I'd paddle big water like Lakes Michigan and Superior, but now I'm old and mortal.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Looking good brother.

Night ops are salt of the earth surreal.

The good bass are on the prowl

and the rest of the world just fades away.

Nicely done.

A-Jay

Thanks A-Jay. I agree 100% with your assessment of night ops. I'll be back after 'em tonight. I only took a bladed jig rod with me last night since I intended to spend most of my time chasing the slimers, but I had a bunch of short strikes on it. Some of them were HARD. Lots of bass in the stunted grass on the outside edges in 8-12. Tonight I'll take a second bass rod, and spend some time dragging some Ol Monsters around.

Low 80s mostly sunny winds 1-7 out of the east.

Scouted out a new pond today.

I think it’s going to be productive. Saw lots of bass swimming around, got a few to bite and fewer still to stay hooked. Biggest pictured below.

I love your adventures, @bp_fowler. Lots of us simply fish, but you adventure!

1 minute ago, Swamp Girl said:

I love your adventures, @bp_fowler. Lots of us simply fish, but you adventure!

Today was just the recon. Tomorrow I have stuff to get done around the house.

Wednesday will be the real adventure since I’ll be carting the canoe back there. 2.83 miles one way but it looks to be worth the effort.

19 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

2.83 miles one way but it looks to be worth the effort.

Whoa.

Here's a song that was written about you. They got your name wrong:

Took a trip up to one of my favorite lakes and it was awesome having it be so welcoming!

Underspins were the ticket and never stopped delivering.

Pretty incredible (for me at least!) that it seemed to be nothing but hard fighting 15-20" SM with no dinks to be found.

And a lakeside campfire was the perfect ending to the day.

@NorcalBassin: Thanks for sharing your beautiful bass and campfire with us.

12 hours ago, bp_fowler said:

Today was just the recon. Tomorrow I have stuff to get done around the house.

Wednesday will be the real adventure since I’ll be carting the canoe back there. 2.83 miles one way but it looks to be worth the effort.

To say you are quivering with anticipation would be an understatement....

We are too! Looking forward to your report!

12 hours ago, bp_fowler said:

Today was just the recon. Tomorrow I have stuff to get done around the house.

Wednesday will be the real adventure since I’ll be carting the canoe back there. 2.83 miles one way but it looks to be worth the effort.

I fished my pond this morning and caught 21, giving me 1,225 for the year. I'd like to reach 1,300 by the end of July because now I'm shooting for 2,000 instead of 1,800 for 2026. I caught all but two bass on mid-pond weedbeds, mostly Pond Weed. I did pull two bass off of old beaver lodges, including my biggest. This girl:

Here's where I caught her:

The beaver lodge is under the bush to the left and the old beaver-cut trees line the bottom, which attracts bass. I saw the line she made as she charged my bait.

This was my biggest smallmouth, an especially nice one for my pond:

Here's a typical smallie for my pond:

There was another angler on the pond this morning and he'd caught three drinks and a two-pounder, but he was pounding the shoreline. The bigger ones are off-shore. I caught one small bass and twenty solid fish. Here are some of them:

Another sweet smallie:

Back to your regularly scheduled bigmouth programming:

Second biggest lmb:

Last bass, also pulled from an abandoned beaver lodges (Thanks, @Glenn!):

Slow bite last night and nothing over about 2#. I started muskie fishing just before daylight and the only thing I caught was this awesome sunrise. Back to the grind tomorrow.

You blessed us with that sunrise photo, Tim. Thank you.

Say, Tim, do you have a musky goal this year?

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

You blessed us with that sunrise photo, Tim. Thank you.

Say, Tim, do you have a musky goal this year?

Purtiest sunrise I've seen in awhile. Only fishing goal I have this year is to relax and enjoy myself out there. Life has gotten busier this year. I'm not getting out as much, and I'm not fishing as hard when I am there. Just decompressing and looking to snag a few of the big dumb ones. 😉 That said, I still get to fish more than most folks. I ain't complaining. Currently at 34 muskie, and running a nearly 40" average. #BLESSEDLIFE!!!

On 7/13/2026 at 11:35 AM, gim said:

I agree with this assessment.

The smallmouth are more plump than the largemouth.

Interesting observation based on what each species tends to target. Clearly the largemouth grow bigger but the smallmouth seem to be healthier. There also seems to be a ceiling on the size of the smallmouth she posts too.

I don't encounter too many lakes here with both species; either the lake basically has one or the other as the dominant predator.

I was fortunate enough to get to fish Katie's Lake (I'm Sorry Katie, I refuse to call a 165 acre body of water a pond!) I have a pond, you have an inland sea!

What I observed is the Smallmouth are shorter than the largemouth but they are more robust. A 16" Smallie is shaped thicker and rounder than a 16" largemouth. I did not have a great sample size as I only caught a couple smallies, and I'm not sure if this is caused by the forage used/available, regional genetics, depths frequented, or some other factor that I did not consider. The largies, on the other hand, are long and lean but have very healthy shoulders, and often extended bellies which leads me to believe the body of water is a very healthy, and balanced ecosystem. My knowledge of smallies is limited but the ones I have caught in my latitude are usually the same body type as the largies I catch. I've never caught any of the "Footballs" that AJ, and Dwight catch. And NorcalBassin!

16 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

Took a trip up to one of my favorite lakes and it was awesome having it be so welcoming!

Underspins were the ticket and never stopped delivering.

Pretty incredible (for me at least!) that it seemed to be nothing but hard fighting 15-20" SM with no dinks to be found.

And a lakeside campfire was the perfect ending to the day.

FOOTBALLS!

2 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

FOOTBALLS!